Method of producing a carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas mixture from carbonaceous materials



Oct. 24, 1950 W. METHOD OF PRODUCING A CARBON MONOXIDE AND HYDROGEN F. ROLLMAN 2,527,197

GAS MIXTURE FROM CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS Filed Feb. 17, 1945 wATEiLGAs Ou'r vDesmuame 5PAE F09. Eva-muss Souos FUEL. m

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Cltbornaq UNITED STATES PATENT" orrlce METHOD OF PRODUCING A CARBON MON- OXIDE AND HYDROGEN GAS MIXTURE FROM CARBON ACEOUS MATERIALS WalterF. Rollman, Crani'ord, N. .L, assignor to Standard Oil Development Company, a corporation oi Delaware Appplication February 17, 1945, Serial No. 578,438

4 Claims. 1

The present invention is fully disclosed in the ensuing specification and claims considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

One object of the present invention is to pro- 2 ly, the so-called fluidized catalyst type of operation has come into general use. In this process, the catalyst in the form of a powder is suspended in the reaction vapors in a reaction zone videa means for carrying out chemical reactions 5 and the process is chiefly characterized by the of two types such as an oxidation (burning) and features of accurately controllable temperatures, another reaction which may be endothermic, maintenance of catalyst activity at nearly conside by side, contiguously, but out of actual constant levels, continuit of operation and others. tact, in the same generally confined space, so My present invention relates to improvements that heat may flow to and fro between the rein the fluidized" catalyst type-of operation and action zones. I shall hereinafter describe its application .to the A more specific object of my invention is to production of a mixture of CO and H2, suitable provide a process for producing a mixture of as starting materials for synthesizing hydrocar- CO and hydrogen in an enlarged confined space bons and also its application to naphthalene and at the same time to cause burning of a fuel oxidation, with the understanding that these two in zones which are contiguous to the CO and hytypes of operations are merely illustrative of drogen forming zones, both reactions taking the broad principle involved and that other reacplace within the said confined space, and transtions may be successfully performed according to fer of solid materials between the several reacthe teachings of this invention. tion zones within the said confined space being It is the main object of the invention to proatl'ected without recourse to conduits and/ or vide means for carrying out a, fluid solids type of valve means. process in an operation involving both a produc- A still further object of my invention is to tive phase and a solids reheating phase, in a provide a process for producing a mixture of C0 single confined space and at the same time elimiand hydrogen and to burn a fuel to supply heat to nating the necessity of utilizing transfer lines, support the phase in named reaction, in the valves, and, as indicated, a plurality of vessels. same enlarged confined space, but in difierent Other and further objects of my invention will contiguous zones and providing means for perappear from the following detailed description mitting transfer of solid material from any zone and claims. to another without employing conduits and/or In the accompanying drawing, I have shown valve means. diagram'matically merely the essentials of an ap- The production of hydrocarbons, both gaseous p ratus in which a preferred embodiment of my and normally liquid, by catalytic synthesis using invention may be carried into practical effect in carbon monoxide and hydrogen is old. A great Figure I, and in Figure II, I have shown a cross deal of research has been carried out in consection of the apparatus shown in Figure I taken nection with this process for it affords a means along the lines II to II. of forming valuable hydrocarbons which may be Referring in detail to Figures I and II, the genconverted, for example, to gasoline, heating oil, erator consists of a vertical cylinder divided by and the other products ordinarily obtained from two intersecting walls A extending from the top petroleum. One of the main problems of the 40 to a point at near the bottom of thevessel, thus hydrocarbon synthesis from C0 and hydrogen dividing it into four zones or compartments. has been the development of and economical The generator is further divided in the lower source of these gases. The most commonly used portion thereof by two vertical walls B extending method of preparing carbon monoxide and hypart way up from the bottom of the generator, drogen involves the reaction between steam and 5 into eight compartments or zones S. The eight carbonaceous materials such as coal, coke, oil, a s 0 201168 comprise W bu n ng chamcoke oven gas, or natural gas. bers' where carbonaceous material is burned in In many chemical reactions, a solid catalyst the presence of air to supply 'heat, two steaming is employed to promote the reaction. Thus, in zones in which the hot burned coke is treated cracking hydrocarbon oils, in oxidizing naphwith steam to form water gas and four interthalene, in synthesizing hydrocarbons from C0 posed zones in which coke from a burning zone and Hz, a solid catalyst is used in modern racor a steaming zone passes therethrough downtice. Heretofore, the catalyst was employed in wardly to the bottom of a steaming or burning the form of a stationary bed. But more recentzone. In other words, the passage of the coke or other carbonaceous material is upwardly through the steaming and burning zones and downwardly through the interposed zones which form the communicating length between the said burning and steaming zones. Thus, steam is introduced at the bottom of two oppositely disposed chambers via feed line 3 where it contacts coke to form water gas which passes upwardly and finally exits through line 30; preheated air is introduced at the bottom of the two segments displaced 90 from those into which steam is introduced, causing burning of coke therein, and flue gas, consisting chiefly of C02 and nitrogen, is

taken overhead through line It. The coke or coal (which I term fuel") which reacts with the steam to form the water gas previously mentioned is introduced through line (see Figure I). In the example which I have chosen to illustrate my invention the coal or other carbonaceous fuel has an initial particle size of about ,1 mesh.

The steam and air introduced at the bottom of the generator, as indicated, cause the fuel bed to be fluidized, and simultaneously gradually lift the fuel to the top of walls B where it spills over into the adjoining zone, passes downwardly therethrough (without reacting) and is withdrawn from the bottom thereof. It is then picked up by the rising air or steam (as the case may be) and carried into the next zone. The fuel is thus heated by combustion as it rises through an alr" chamber (or burning zone) and is cooled to a corresponding extent by the endothermic water gas reaction as it rises through a steam" chamber or steam zone. This motion up and down the several chambers and around the lower portion of the generator continues until the fuel is consumed. Make-up fuel is, of course, added continuously. Ash produced in the process is removed via line from the chamber immediately preceding that into which fuel is introduced, and the process is adjusted so that gasification of the fuel is completed in the steam" chamber immediately preceding that from which ash is removed.

Referring in particular to Figure 11 it will be noted that there are four zones N which I have termed neutral zones, meaning that these are the zones in which the fluidized fuel spills over into a zone in which it forms a dense phase suspension and passes by gravity to the bottom thereof where it is picked up by either steam or air and passed into the next zone where it either is burned with air or converted to CO and H2. Therefore, the term neutral means that the zone is one in which substantially no reaction takes place.

With respect to the term fluidizing" I mean to imply a condition in which the granular or powdered fuel is suspended in the gas either by steam or air to form a suspension moving generally upward but at the same time permitting a sort of delayed settling of the solid fuel. In the present disclosure when I speak of the gas velocity of being 10 ft. per second, I refer to the velocity of the gas as if there were no solid present. Gas velocities of 10 ft. per second where a particle size of the coke is about 4 mesh results in a suspension in these zones in which the coke moves generally upward. It moves at a slower rate than the gas and consequently there is a slippage or delayed settling which I have previously referred to. There is also, however, sufficient turbulence of the individual particles of temperature level in the water gasgeneration sections. Unlike other proposed applications of the fluid solid technique to the generation of 'water gas, slide valves and transfer lines are not needed and only one vessel is required. The advantages, especially bearing in mind the high temperatures involved, are obvious.

The process which I have described is completely continuous. requires no pure oxygen, and

the CO and H2 contains only minor amounts of nitrogen and C02. The equipment is relatively simple.

- The water gas which is withdrawn through line 30 may of course contain some powdered material, such as ash or unconsumed coal, or the like. This gas may be passed through the usual cyclone separators and/ or electrical precipitators to cause the fines to be separated from the gas in equipment not shown, and then the water gas may be delivered to storage. I have omitted a great many conventional engineering expedients and devices for simplicity and to direct attention to my invention and have shown merely the essential elements of my own improvements. The skilled engineer, particularly one who is familiar with the fluid catalyst technique is well acquainted with the number of engineering devices, such as heat exchangers, preheating furnaces, pumps, valves, and the like which would be necessary as accessory apparatus in commercial units when used in conjunction with the features which I have shown and described in this specification and drawing.

In order to further illustrate my invention, I set forth below a typical example giving conditions and nature of the fuel and the yields so that an evaluation of my improvements may be possible.

Lignite, coke, or coal reduced to about 4 mesh is charged continuously to a generator of the type described at a rate which approximates 4O lbs/1000 cubic ft. of water gas produced. Material circulating in the system has a high ash content, and average particle size is less than as charged. The depth of the fluidized bed may be on the order of five feet and gas velocity up through the bed about 10 feet per second. Air and steam rates are adjusted so that temperature in the generation zone is around 1900 F., at which condition about 8200 cubic ft. per hour of water gas is produced per square foot of generation cross-sectional area. Following is a typical analysis of water gas: 51% hydrogen, 40% CO. 3% C02, 5% N2.

The particle size of the fuel may vary from a powder of say mesh to a size of A; to inch lumps. Of course the larger the particle size the greater must be the velocity of the gases to give the fluidized condition. Therefore, the gas velocity in the steaming zone or the air zone may vary from to 10 or more feet per second.

It will be understood. of course, that the speciflc design which I have shown in the drawing is merely illustrative and does not impose any limitation upon my invention. Thus, where I have shown in the drawing two steaming zones and two burning zones, I may use a greater or lesser number of zones. Thus, I may have one burning zone and one steaming zone or I may have three or more of these zones. Of course, in

communication, some of any case I will need the correct number of down flow zone to the next reaction zone.

It should also be pointed out that while I have escribed in detail a method of preparing C and hydrogen that my process is not limited to his precise reaction but may be used in any number of reactants where a solid contacts gasiform material. Thus, for example, the vapor phase oxidation ofnaphthalene to form phthalic and hydride, performed in the presence of powdered vanadium oxide (the catalyst), may be carried out in this apparatus in which case the naphthalene would be oxidized in certain zones in the presence oi. air or oxygen and the catalyst cooled in other zones. In this reaction, which is highly exothermic, the catalyst could be cooled in zones corresponding to thesteaming zones in the case of C0 and hydrogen production.

Numerous modifications 01. my invention will be apparent to those who are familiar with 'this art.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous process for producing a mixture of CO and Hz of sufficient purity to ,be utilized in a. hydrocarbon synthesis process which comprises charging a sub-divided carbonaceous material to a burning zone ofa gas generating system containing a plurality of contiguous zones disposed in the form oi. cylindrical sectors about a common axis within the same general confined space, saidzones being in continuous open said zones being burning zones, some water gas generatingzones and the remainder neutral zones, passing air upwardly in said burning zone at a velocity suificient to fluidize said carbonaceous material, partially burning the carbonaceous material in said first-named burning zone, withdrawing partially burnt carbonaceous material from a point above the bottom of said first-named burning zone and passing the same to the top of a contiguous neutral zone, whereby said partially burntcarbonaceous material flows downwardly to the bottom of said neutral zone in the form of a dense suspension, passing said partially burnt carbozones to permit transfer of solids from one naceous material from the bottom of said neutral zone into a contiguous water gas generation zone, introducing steam into said last-named zone under conditions to fluidize said partially burnt carbonaceous material, maintaining water gas generation temperatures in said last-named zone, forming a mixture of CO and H2 in said zone, withdrawing water gas from said zone substantially uncontaminated by flue gas from said burning zone, withdrawing unconsumed carbonaceous material. from a point above the bottom of 'said water gas generation zone, passing the same into a second neutral zone contiguous to said water gas generation zone, flowing said material downwardly in said second neutral zone and passing it therefrom to a second burning zone.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said'carbonaceous solids flow is continued, serially through the several zones in the order indicated until said carbonaceous material is substantially consumed.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the path of flow of said carbonaceous material comprises two burning zones, two water gas generation zones and at least three neutral zones.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein ash produced in the process is removed from the system from a zone immediately preceding that into which said sub-divided carbonaceous material was introduced.

WALTER. F. ROILMAN'.

REFERENCES crrEn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,687,118 Winkler Oct. 9, 1928 2,341,193 Scheineman Feb. 8, 1944 2,428,872 Gunness Oct. 14, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 115,689 Australia Aug. 6, 1942 632,466 France Oct. 10, 1927 564,870 Germany NOV. 24, 1932 

1. A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A MIXTURE OF CO AND H2 OF SUFFICIENT PURITY TO BE UTILIZED IN A HYDROCARBVON SYNTHESIS PROCESS WHICH COMPRISES CHARGING A SUB-DIVIDED CABONACEOUS MATERIAL TO A BURNING ZONE OF A GAS GENERATING SYSTEM CONTAINING A PLURALITY OF CONTIGUOUS ZONES DISPOSED IN THE FORM OF CYLINDRICAL SECTORS ABOUT A COMMON AXIS WITHIN THE SAME GENERAL CONFINED SPACE, SAID ZONES BEING IN CONTINUOUS OPEN COMMUNICATION, SOME OF SAID ZONES BEING BURNING ZONES, SOME WATER GAS GENERATING ZONES AND THE REMAINDER NEUTRAL ZONES, PASSING AIR UPWARDLY IN SAID BURNING ZONE AT A VELOCITY SUFFICIENT TO FLUIDIZE SAID CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL, PARTIALLY BURNING THE CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL IN SAID FIRST-NAMED BURNING ZONE, WITHDRAWING PARTIALLY BURNT CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL FROM A POINT ABOVE THE BOTTOM OF SAID FIRST-NAMED BURNING ZONE AND PASSING THE SAME TO THE TOPE OF A CONTIGUOUS NEUTRAL ZONE, WHEREBY SAID PARTIALLY BURNT CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL FLOWS DOWNWARDLY TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID NEUTRAL ZONE IN THE FORM OF A DENSE SUSPENSION, PASSING SAID PARTIALLY BURNT CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID NEUTRAL ZONE INTO A CONTIGUOUS WATER GAS GENERATION ZONE, INTRODUCING STEAM INTO SAID LAST-NAMED 